Published Dec 10, 2011 This Sha Sha has been busily working to finish making Davy’s birthday present since his big birthday number 2 is coming up on Dec. 15.   In Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #119 I told how I decided to make Davy a Blues Clues card table playhouse.  You remember throwing a blanket over a card table when you were a kid and it became a play house on a rainy day, right?  Well this one was a bit challenging because there is no pattern for a Blue’s Clues playhouse so I just made it up as I went along.  But thanks to the Internet and my trusty iPad I was able to come up with something that looks pretty close to the real deal. Here are a few snapshots of the playhouse.  And it doesn’t just look like Blue’s house from the outside, but I lined the panels with fabric that looks like the wallpaper in her house, and even sewed some features in felt like the table and telephone and the framed picture of the felt people on the wall. You know to me what we are doing today with our kids and grand kids and in some cases great grand kids is just as important as researching our family history – in fact it’s more important!  Creating memories with our loved ones is creating family history right now.  And to me there’s nothing more important than that.  Get your free audio book and over 40,000 audio book titles to choose from at Audible:  http://www.audiblepodcast.com/gems   NEWS: Genealogy Gems Premium Members have been enjoying episodes on the Premium podcast lately covering how to use the iPad and other tablets out there in the marketplace for our family history.    New Ancestry App UpdatesAncestry.com has a popular free app that lets you take your Ancestry.com family tree with you on your iPad.  The newest version of the app now includes the shakey Leaf Hints that you also see on their website.  Plus there is a simple merge tool that helps you quickly add new relatives and information to your family tree.  It also allows you to automatically adds information to photos, allows you to change your tree privacy settings, adds an integrated user feedback support feature, and is faster and more stable than previous versions.  New Free Podcasts by National Archives Records Administration in iTunes U The Civil War podcast World War II in the News video podcast features WWII news reels   Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Update for Those Seeking Family History Documents   Irish Records:  FindMyPast.ie has recently announced that they have launched exclusive access to the Irish Prison Registers 1790-1920. The collection is made up of over 3.5 million entries across 130,000 pages. New Library and Archives Canada Blog: Provides useful tips and recommend tools to help you discover your documentary heritage and navigate the LAC website.   Lisa’s Book Featured in Online MagazineThe Genealogist’s Google Toolbox was featured in the most recent issue of Shelf Unbound magazine.  (p.40) A big thank you to all of you who have bought the book because those purchases I think helped bring it to the attention of a non-genealogy publication!   My Presentation Schedule for 2012 Feb 2 – 4 RootsTech 2012, Salt Lake City, UT We’ll be celebrating the 5 year anniversary of The Genealogy Gems Podcast!    FamilySearch has just announced that the RootsTech 2012 Developer Challenge contest. RootsTech will reward developers who introduce the most innovative new concepts to family history with $10,000 in cash rewards and increased visibility.    Feb 24-26 - Who Do You Think You Are Live! In London. Presenting Harness the Power of Google Earth for Your Family History and Google Search Strategies for the Family Historian. And I am very excited to have been invited to be part of a very special panel discussion on using technology for genealogy as well.   March 3 Utah Genealogical Assocation Family History Fair in Bountiful, Utah   March 10 Full day seminar at the Family History Society of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ   April 12 – 14 Ohio Genealogical Society Confedrence,